


Big Brother's Clothes

by Lunatic_Lullaby



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: AU - Bruce never returned, Pre-New 52
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-07
Updated: 2009-07-07
Packaged: 2018-12-14 22:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11792778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatic_Lullaby/pseuds/Lunatic_Lullaby
Summary: Dick pays Tim an unexpected visit on his birthday.(Written in 2009 after Battle for the Cowl and the release of Red Robin #1.)





	Big Brother's Clothes

Red Robin was not accustomed to receiving in-person visits from Batman. He certainly hadn't expected him to drop in on his birthday, bearing a gift. Tim stepped back from his living room window, feeling uncomfortably naked in his civies. "What's this?" he questioned even as he warily accepted the box.

  
"Something I probably should have given you a long time ago, but I wasn't ready. Maybe you weren't ready either." Batman pulled his cowl off, stepping away from the window sill. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, and eyed Tim's couch as though he was tempted to hand-walk his stress out on the back of it. "It's been over two years," Dick said quietly. "I think it's time for me to let certain things go."

  
"Like me?" Tim asked wryly. _Like I should let Bruce go?_ he meant.  _Like I should have let the name 'Robin' go?_ None of Dick's talks about maturity and moving on ended well between them.

  
_You're finally letting me go?_ was what Dick heard.  He shook his head, agitated. "Just open it," he bit out.

  
There was only a blue ribbon wrapped around the plain white box to hold it closed, but Tim undid it hesitantly. Lifting the lid, he went still and stared. He should have guessed, and he couldn't believe it.  He felt a rush of warm comfort that his mistrust couldn't suppress.  "What does this _mean?"_ Tim berated himself when he heard the tremor in his voice.

  
Dick reached out and held Tim's shoulders, seeking eye contact. "You've told me before, that Batman needs a Nightwing." He smirked. "Somewhere in that, I think I might have heard Robin needed one too."

  
"So this is for Damian's sake," Tim half-whispered, eyes focusing on a random patch of drywall. A mending of fences for the sake of the family's only child.  Damian had Jason. Cass. Babs. _Dick._ What did he need _Tim_ for?

  
"This is for us," Dick quietly insisted. "I need you to come home, Tim. You need to be with your family again. And I need to let 'Nightwing' go; being Batman isn't just about holding down the fort anymore, it's my life now."

  
"You'll take it up again when he comes back," Tim said. It was more of an order than a presumption.

  
"Sure," Dick agreed, because they really weren't going to have that fight again.  "Tim," he persisted, "I know you've been trying to settle down here, and it hasn't been working out."

  
The rough reputation Red Robin had earned over the past two years did seem to weigh Tim down at odd twists and turns; he'd already been considering another change. And it would be lying to say that he _wanted_ to live independently from the heroes he'd grown up with. Tim looked at Dick's old suit with a new attentiveness, feeling the material, holding it close. It was a part of Dick, and he always had enjoyed dressing up in his big brother's clothes. "I could change the colors?" he asked hesitantly.

  
Dick sighed in relief. "If you have no fashion sense at all, why not? Anything but orange."

  
Tim looked at Dick warily. "Just...some yellow. Instead of the blue."

  
Yellow on black; Bruce's colors.

  
Dick closed his eyes for a moment, then squeezed Tim's shoulders reassuringly. "Yeah," he approved, "that sounds good. You'll match me and Batgirl." When Tim impulsively embraced him, Dick accepted it with gratitude. It was a shock to his heart when he recognized that his little brother had noticeably grown since they'd last hugged.

  
Being held by Dick was always cause for basking, but Tim couldn't hold his tongue. "At least it's better than adding a disco collar," he murmured against Dick's chest. The only revenge was to get squeezed tighter, Dick's relieved laughter shaking them both.


End file.
